Funkstown to hold election, focus on lagoon in 2002

Funkstown to hold election, focus on lagoon in 2002

Robert L. Kline has been the town's mayor since 1982 and said he plans to run again for the office this year.

As of Monday no one else had registered with the town as a mayoral candidate.

The seats of Funkstown Council members Kim Ramer and Richard Nigh also will be up for grabs in the May 6 election.

At Monday's Town Council meeting Ramer said he was undecided about running again. Nigh said he wants another term in office. Ramer has been on the council for 16 years and Nigh has held a seat on the Town Council since 1990.

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Kline, 71, said he wants to be in office to help the people of Funkstown.

"They're good people and they deserve it," he said.

A retired Washington County teacher, Kline said one of the main town projects is the repair of the aging lagoons. Doing that, he said, "is a slow process."

Bypass movement

Kline said he is getting behind a movement to have a bypass road built to carry traffic around Funkstown.

"It's the same committee that worked on Wal-Mart," said Kline.

That committee successfully fought plans for a Wal-Mart Supercenter to be built along Edgewood Drive near Funkstown's border.

A road to bypass Funkstown would go from Oak Ridge Drive west of Funkstown to Edgewood Drive north of Funkstown.

Kline said he wasn't sure what steps the committee was taking to lobby for the bypass. "I have confidence," he said.

Plans for park

Also on the minds of Funkstown leaders is continuing improvements to the town's park.

Construction of a new street leading Beaver Creek Road on the park's north side to the far rim of the baseball diamond will start in the spring, said Assistant Mayor Paul Crampton Jr.

Building the 1,200-foot road will allow easier access for those with disabilities and park patrons from the eastern part of the county, he said.

The undeveloped area had been primarily used by Civil War re-enactors during the annual Battle of Funkstown.

"The park is beautiful but it has no multi-use fields," said Crampton.

The new road will make it feasible to add several athletic fields - including a second baseball field and a soccer field - to the more than 23 acres of vacant land on the park's eastern edge.

The town purchased the land for $50,000 in 1989.

The town plans to keep most of the land open, but wants to build a third pavilion near the northeast corner of the baseball field to help meet the demands of the many families, community organizations and church groups that flock to the park for gatherings during the warmer months, Crampton said.

A new 20- to 30-space parking lot will help accommodate additional park visitors, he added.

The town has already been approved for a portion of the state Program Open Space, or POS, money needed to fund the project.